Holocaust Memorial Day takes place annually on 27 January, the date that marks the liberation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp.

This year's theme, 'Bridging Generations', urges people to honour those who were murdered and to reflect on the suffering caused by Nazi persecution, while highlighting the essential role of younger people in safeguarding memory.

Around 300 people took part in acts of remembrance, commemorating victims of the Holocaust as well as those affected by more recent genocides.

The ceremony was organised by The Executive Office in partnership with the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust (HMDT) and Belfast City Council. Holocaust survivor Janine Webber shared her experiences of loss and hardship under Nazi persecution.

She recounted hiding under a wardrobe as a child, losing both parents within months by the age of nine, and then working on a farm and living in a convent under a false identity during the Second World War.

Janine Webber BEM said: "As a Holocaust survivor, I carry memories that must not be lost, and sharing my testimony is so important. This year's Holocaust Memorial Day theme, Bridging Generations, reminds us that remembrance is a responsibility shared by us all. While young people carry these memories forward, every generation has a duty to listen, to learn and to act - so that these stories endure and help build a more humane world for generations to come."

Speaking at the event, First Minister Michelle O'Neill said: "Holocaust is what happens when hatred is allowed to grow, when whole communities are targeted and when the world looks away.

"For many years, survivors of the Nazi Holocaust have shared their stories. Now, as fewer survivors remain, the responsibility to preserve their truth rests with us. We must not allow their lessons to be ignored. Educating and empowering our young people is essential. "As we remember the Holocaust, we cannot turn away from what has happened since then and right up to the present day. We must pass the duty to speak up and speak out to the next generation so they can build a world where compassion and humanity prevail."

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said: "This special Holocaust Memorial Day event is an opportunity to honour the memory of the six million Jewish men, women and children whose lives were taken during the Holocaust, and all who have been killed in subsequent atrocities.

"But for remembrance to be meaningful, it must be more than an act of looking backward – it must also be an act of moral clarity about the world we are living in today so that we can create a better future where antisemitism has no place."

Olivia Marks-Woldman, Chief Executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said: "Holocaust Memorial Day is a time for people to come together across Northern Ireland to commemorate the six million Jewish men, women and children murdered during the Holocaust, and the millions more murdered under Nazi persecution. We also learn and commemorate where persecution led in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.

"We are so grateful to The Executive Office for hosting this important ceremony and for their continued commitment to remembrance. By coming together to remember the past, we reaffirm our shared responsibility to protect the future – one grounded in empathy, understanding and respect."

Lord Mayor of Belfast Tracy Kelly said: "Remembering and learning from the Holocaust must go on; Holocaust Memorial Day calls on us to remember our responsibility to each other and our own individual power to act and to interrupt the expressions of hatred and prejudice that foster separation and hatred."

Holocaust Memorial Day was established in 2000 to remember the victims and survivors of the Holocaust and to deepen understanding of the Holocaust and subsequent genocides as an ongoing concern for humanity. The 27 January date was chosen to coincide with the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945.

The theme chosen by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust for 2026 is 'Bridging Generations'. Further information is available at hmd.org.uk/hmd-theme-2026/.